There is a well-recognized need for new technologies that generate electricity. In particular, there is a need for new technologies by which electricity can be generated from thermal energy. The present invention discloses apparatuses and methods for generating or capturing heat from various sources and using the electricity so generated.
The present invention is related to thermal-to-electric conversion apparatuses and methods disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,982,360 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/465,924, filed May 14, 2009, now allowed, and in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 13/226,799 and 13/228,051. Those applications disclose apparatuses and methods for using the inherent spontaneous polarization of ferroelectrics and other polarizable materials to convert heat to electricity. The inventions presented therein, unlike the prior art, utilize the spontaneous polarization of ferroelectrics, together with the rapid change in spontaneous polarization that occurs during phase transition, to convert heat to electrical energy. The apparatuses and methods set forth in the foregoing patents and applications are a new way of converting thermal energy to electricity. Those apparatuses and methods are used with other technologies herein so as to generate electricity from heat available in specific applications.